BRIMFIELD — Far from offering up a red-meat speech to a crowd of Republican supporters, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio gave a blueprint Tuesday night for how he believes the next generation in this country can preserve the American Dream.

The Florida lawmaker and possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate was the featured speaker at a rural Peoria County fundraiser for Rep. Aaron Schock’s re-election effort.

Rubio’s leadership and vision for the future is particularly important now with the nation facing many turning points and needing clear direction, the Peoria Republican seeking his fourth term in Congress told the crowd of several hundred at the farm of Brimfield businesswoman Rita Kress.

For his part, in a 25-minute address Rubio outlined a vision for how “America’s greatest days are within our reach.”

The child of immigrants from Cuba before Fidel Castro’s 1959 communist takeover, Rubio empathized with the struggles of the middle class, many of whom he said are “working as hard as they ever have but feel like they’re running on a treadmill.”

The way to guarantee “another American Century” requires enhanced competition in the country, unburdening the nation from an overcomplicated tax code, burdensome regulation and unbalanced budgets. Rubio called repeatedly for modernizing what he termed a 19th century immigration system — not only enforcing existing laws, but upgrading technology to better be aware of those who have overstayed visas and attracting skilled workers to “win the global competition for talent.”

The nation must reform its education system as well, encouraging more students to prepare for skilled labor jobs and recognizing that a four-year college degree isn’t the answer for everyone.

“For the life of me, I do not know why we stigmatize vocational education in America,” he said, describing growing fields — especially in the medical profession — that can help lift people out of poverty if it can overcome the challenge of being both cost- and time-effective, especially for those trying to raise families.

With a growing student loan debt crisis — Rubio noted he just paid off his six-figure debt from school — he insisted schools needed to tell prospective loan applicants how much graduates with similar degrees were making in that field, so students can decide themselves if their prospective careers are worth the price tag.

The pair also used a question-and-answer session to discuss matters ranging from tax policy to the ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the growth of the Islamic State terrorist organization.

To the latter, he expressed concern that the group has become “already better funded and more capable than al-Qaeda ever was,” and said the threat it posed needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Page 2 of 2 - “In medicine there is no condition that is easier to treat the longer you wait, and the same is true in national security matters.”

On matters unfolding in Ferguson, Mo., the Florida senator hearkened back to discrimination he saw firsthand among business owners and authorities against minorities while growing up and said the problem of young African-American men feeling unfairly targeted by police needed to be addressed. But he classed that as a problem apart from a simpler and more direct one: Discovering the facts of what transpired in the shooting via a thorough, lawful, unbiased investigation before taking a position on what, if any, consequences are appropriate.

He bluntly criticized those crossing the line from protesting into lawbreaking.

“The solution to this is not to loot and rob and destroy the houses and businesses of people who had nothing to do with this,” he said.

But Rubio and Schock also saved time for a lighter moment, discussing Rubio’s infamous sip of water that he paused to take during the Republican response he gave to the 2013 State of the Union address.

That live speech began moments after he wrapped up recording the same response in Spanish as part of a GOP outreach effort, he said, and he had nary a pause to whet his thirst. Within minutes, he laughed, he knew he had two choices: continue and sound struggling and bizarre, or reach for the off-camera water bottle.

“I’d much rather take a sip of water than have people spend the rest of the year wondering what I was on,” he joked of how his voice would have sounded without the drink.

Chris Kaergard can be reached at ckaergard@pjstar.com or 686-3135. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisKaergard.